Slovenia's postal service to buy shipping firm Intereuropa

LJUBLJANA, May 10 (Reuters) - Slovenia's state-owned postal service agreed to buy a majority stake in local shipping firm Intereuropa on Friday, Posta Slovenije said.

Posta bought 72.13 percent of Intereuropa from local banks SID Banka, NLB, NKBM, Gorenjska Banka, Banka Intesa Sanpaolo and SKB bank, which was recently bought by Hungarian OTP bank.

The transaction will be concluded in the second half of this year, subject to approval from the Slovenian competition watchdog, following which Posta will announce a bid for the remaining shares of Intereuropa, Posta said.

It did not disclose the value of the deal.

Britain's Xpediator said earlier this year it was also bidding for Intereuropa.

The Slovenian government still controls about half of the economy through state ownership of some of its largest companies. The state is also the largest owner of the country's biggest bank NLB.

Prime Minister Marjan Sarec told Reuters in February he believed the country should privatise as little as possible, adding that it should put good managers in state firms.

(Reporting by Marja Novak, editing by Louise Heavens)